By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
LEXINGTON, Ky. — It didn’t take former Picayune prep All-American Dante Dowdell long to make his mark in the Bluegrass State.
Dowdell, a junior transfer tailback, rushed for a game-high 129 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Kentucky to a 24-16 win over Toledo Saturday in the season opener for both teams.
Dowdell, who transferred from Nebraska, got the start in the backfield next to quarterback Zach Calzada and was solid all afternoon. Dowdell’s 79-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats the boost they needed to fend off the Rockets.
“It was a big hole,” Dowdell told reporters. “My eyes were really big, and I was like, I’ve got to go.”
Dowdell and Seth McGowen, a transfer (New Mexico State), combined for 207 yards rushing. Kentucky finished with 305 yards of offense, as the Wildcats won their fifth consecutive season opener, with three of the last four victories against teams from the Mid-American Conference.

The Wildcats opened the 2019 season with a 38-24 win over the Rockets in the first meeting between the two teams. Kentucky, which struggled with penalties last season, had three for just 30 yards in the opener. The Wildcats had two fourth-down stops, including a goal-line stand at the 4-yard line in the first half.
Dowdell, the former Class 5A “Mr Football” in the state of Mississippi in 2022, originally signed with the University of Oregon after leading the Maroon Tide to back-to-back class 5A state championships in 2021 and 2022.
The 6-foot-2, 215 pounder appeared in six games for the Ducks in his only season in Eugene. He rushed for 90 yards off 17 carries and a touchdown. His best game came against Portland State early in the season, where he finished with 55 yards and a touchdown off eight carries.

He then left Oregon after just one season and transferred to Nebraska. In his lone campaign with the Cornhuskers, Dowdell rushed for 614 yards and to lead Nebraska and 12 touchdown which was fourth highest in the Big Ten.
He ran for over 5,3000 yards and 65 touchdowns during his prep career.

Now, after making a big splash in his first game in Lexington, Dowdell and his Wildcats get set to welcome in Ole Miss Saturday afternoon in the first Southeastern Conference game of the season for both teams.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 ET and the game can be seen on ABC.